Beachwood Man Lobbies for Cancer Research

A Beachwood man was in Washington, D.C., last week to lobby for increases in federal funding for cancer research.

Brian Dowd joined an effort by the group "One Voice Against Cancer" to raise awareness and support among lawmakers.  Dowd says he met with representatives from the offices of Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez (both D-NJ), as well as Congressmen Jon Runyan (R-03) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11).  He says they had several goals in mind.

"The top three priorities <were> to have the National Cancer Institute increase their budget to $5.26 billion and also insure that, for cancer research funding, we end the decline we have been seeing year over year," Dowd said.  "And then make sure that cancer research funding is also proportional to the overall National Institute of Health budget, and lastly... making sure that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a budget of $510 million dedicated to it."

Dowd was diagnosed with Stage 2 testicular cancer in 2006, and he says his experience sparked a big change in his life.

"I really started to get a passion to become more of an advocate, a fundraiser, a volunteer due to the LiveSTRONG Foundation and their efforts," Dowd said.

To learn more about One Voice Against Cancer and its ongoing mission, click here.